SANDPOINT — Cheers, smiles, laughter and even a few tears were present Wednesday as parents and Community Assistance League members listened to the stories by recipients of this year's CAL scholarship awards.

"When I was 6 years old I was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, which is a form of autism, so school always proved difficult for me," said Tanner Mendenhall, who elicited a roar of applause from the crowd as he finished telling a bit about himself.

Mendenhall was the only recipient awarded a "delayed" scholarship, meaning he did not go straight to college after high school. Although he said it took him awhile to decide to go back to school, he is heading to North Idaho College in the fall to study philosophy. 

Marilyn Haddad, CAL publicity chairperson, said the group received 66 applications, narrowing them down to 20 scholarship recipients.

"We wish we had more money to give the applicants," Haddad said. "... We had $29,500 to divvy up. It was very difficult decisions because we would have been happy to give every single applicant a scholarship if we had the money."

All of the funds for the CAL scholarships are raised through proceeds from Bizarre Bazaar, a nonprofit "upscale resale" store in Sandpoint.

"This is a great meeting for us," Betsy Walker, CAL scholarship committee chair, said as the crowd settled in to hear from the students. "It's great because we all work all year at Bizarre Bazaar for no money, just the joy of knowing that some day down the line, we are going to be able to give scholarships and grants to a ton of people. So it's a gratifying bit of volunteerism — it's very rewarding."

Of the 20 recipients, 16 scholarships of $1,700 each were awarded to local students who graduated high school this month. Thirteen of those students are Sandpoint High School graduates, as well as one each from Priest River High School, Clark Fork High School, and Lake Pend Oreille High School. Also, in addition to Mendenhall's delayed scholarship, the group handed out three renewal scholarships to students in their second year of college who received a CAL scholarship last year.

Fourteen of the students attended CAL monthly meeting Wednesday morning to receive their award certificates from members of the CAL scholarship committee.

The first to take the podium was Gabriel Burns, a Sandpoint High School graduate who is heading to Vassar College in the fall. Although she was awarded a full ride to the school, the CAL scholarship will help with living and other expenses as she works toward a degree in political science. Her "ultimate goal," she said, is to become a legislative advocate for a nonprofit organization, likely in Washington, D.C.

Abigail Kassa and Hannah Fingel, who served as co-salutatorians at the SHS graduation on June 10, were awarded scholarships, as was valedictorian Delaney Search.

Search said she plans to attend George Fox University to pursue a career in medicine, either as a pediatrician or neonatologist. Kassa plans to attend the University of Portland and is also looking toward a career in pediatrics. Fingel is heading to Biola University for three years, and then on to the University of Southern California for two years where she will get a specialized engineering degree.

"Right now I am looking toward civil engineering, because I would like to eventually go into developing water sanitation systems for third-world countries," Fingel said.

SHS graduates Nichol Reed, Cheyanne Nicholson, Lauren Sfeir, Erik Suhr, Reilly Wolfe, Mitchell Rust and Mackenzie Packer each told the group a little about themselves as well. Each one has big plans, from local colleges like NIC and the University of Idaho, to Montana colleges and beyond. A few, like Fingel, are going into one form of engineering or another. Others, like Kassa and Search, are looking at careers in the medical field, and Sfeir plans to major in journalism.

"I grew up in the Middle East in a small country called Lebanon and it was a really hard way of life there ..." Sfeir said. "But it really taught me to look at life in a different way.

Although there was some culture shock when she moved to Sandpoint her senior year, Sfeir discovered a passion in photography. At Whitworth University, Sfeir said she will minor in visual communications along with journalism.

Anthony Storro from Priest River was the only recent graduate in attendance not from SHS. He is one of the recipients who plans to go into engineering at the University of Idaho this fall. Storro said he chose civil engineering because he grew up in North Idaho and "has never really left."

"I just want to be a part of something where I can preserve the wildlife and natural resources that we have, because there is none other like it," Storro said.

Justin Marks made it to the meeting to accept his renewal scholarship award. He thought he would not be able to make it since he lives in Utah, but his family vacation aligned "just right" with the meeting. Marks originally went to Utah Valley University for music production, but decided to change his major to social work. He will complete his bachelor's degree in three years, then plans to transfer to University of Utah to complete his master's in one year.

"I am super thankful for the Community Assistance League," Marks said. "The scholarships you provide are so important to all of us ... I am so grateful for the continued financial support of the Community Assistance League to help me achieve these goals."

Scholarship recipients who could not attend the meeting include SHS graduates Caden Gatlin and Khloe Kyllonen; Nona Young from Clark Fork High School; Hailley Shropshire from Lake Pend Oreille High School; and renewals Sarah Wells and Elizabeth Kovalchuk.

During the meeting, CAL member Mary Daubersmith read a quote that she said "really stuck" with her, which fit with the goals and achievements of all the students who were awarded Wednesday:

"All the flowers of all tomorrows are in the seeds of today."

Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.